Description

01 intro
02 Thee Olde Trip to Jerusalem
03 Abernant
04 Tina
05 Oblivion
06 Give Us Wine or Money
07 Dickie, Chalkie, and Nobby
08 Perfect Mirror
09 Diamonds
10 Cockermouth
11 The Hope and the Anchor
12 Fantastic Voyage
13 Beaten and Broken
14 Ghosts of American Astronauts
15 Big Zombie
16 Last Dance
17 The Hole in the Elephant's Bottom
18 Hole in the Ground
19 Wild and Blue
20 The Powers and the Horrors
21 Hard to be Human Again
22 Millionaire
23 Heaven and Back

01. intro
02. Thee Olde Trip to Jerusalem
03. Abernant 1984/85
04. Tina
05. Oblivion
06. Give Us Wine or Money
07. Dickie, Chalkie, and Nobby
08. Perfect Mirror
09. Diamonds
10. Cockermouth
11. The Hope and the Anchor
12. Fantastic Voyage
13. Beaten and Broken
14. Ghosts of American Astronauts
15. Big Zombie
16. Last Dance
17. The Hole in the Elephant's Bottom
18. Hole in the Ground
19. Wild and Blue
20. Powers and Horrors
21. Hard to be Human Again
22. Millionaire
23. Heaven and Back

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Notes

Mekons this go-round (from left to right): Susie Honeyman (fiddle), Lu Edmonds (saz, oud, vocals), Steve Goulding (cajon, vocals), Sarah Corina (bass), Rico Bell (accordion, acoustic guitar, vocals), Sally Timms (vocals and dignity), Jon Langford (electric and acoustic guitar, vocals). Plus special appearances by Barry B the Man from Atlantis and Chris Mills.

The first of two nights in New York City, this show was billed as the "acoustic" one, which meant mostly that the band was sitting down, and that Steve was playing a wooden box instead of a full drumkit. Otherwise, it was electrified as usual.

What was not usual was that founding Mekon Tom Greenhalgh didn't bother to show up for this tour (he was reported to be back in Devon attending to "family things"). Even without him, though, it was a great Mekons show, with a large block of material from 2007's "Natural," some old songs reintroduced after long absences ("Big Zombie," "Hole in the Ground"), and with Lu taking over lead vocal duties normally performed by Tom on "Beaten and Broken" and "Last Dance." Longtime Mekon associate Chris Mills took the stage for "Heaven and Back" to do his Tom Greenhalgh impression, though mostly this consisted of a bunch of half-hearted leg kicks (though exquisitely appropriate and well-timed leg kicks, for anyone who's seen Tom perform the song).

All in all, a great time was had by all, and the band seemed in especially good spirits at this relatively new Brooklyn venue - Sally in particular seemed appreciative both of the enthusiastic crowd and of the pear cider provided by the Bell House. And the recording came out great - the only unfortunate thing is that there's no video, meaning you'll need to imagine Jon's dance moves during "Cockermouth" and Lu, Steve, Rico, and Jon's hand gestures miming the action in "Powers and Horrors."